Ireland legal system
Legal research handbook
Created by law school graduates for law students 2 | Contents vLex Justis | 3
Do I need this guide? 5
How will this guide help me? 6
Meet JustisOne 8
The judicial system & court structure 10 “Being able to use technology is an invaluable tool for a legal career. Besides the immediate utility, technology skills demonstrate an aptitude for learning and a willingness to adapt to changes. Students need to be Law reports 14 able to do more than just find cases—they need to be able to understand and analyze how cases relate to each other.” Getting started with legal research 16 Legal Information Librarian Keeping up to date with the law 21 Boston University School of Law, Massachusetts
Getting practical with legal research 24
Test yourself 38
More information 50 4 | Welcome vLex Justis | 5
Designed for law students Do I need this guide?
This guide is brought to you by the vLex Justis team with contributions from law school Yes! Legal research skills are highly desirable and valuable for securing a training graduates, and specialists from The Honorable Society of King’s Inns, Dublin. contract or pupillage and excelling in your legal career.
A good legal researcher will understand the fundamentals of court structures and law reporting; where to look for relevant case law and legislation; how to identify good law; Who are vLex Justis? and how to utilise technology to ensure their time is used efficiently. vLex Justis, the company behind JustisOne, launched their first legal research platform Who is this guide for? in 1999, which was widely viewed as one of the most intuitive online libraries. In 2005, vLex Justis launched JustCite, an index of invaluable legal material, case relationships This handbook is designed for current law students who are working towards any type and citations. In 2016, vLex Justis combined the two innovative products to create of law degree, to help you learn and improve your legal research skills during your JustisOne. In Spring 2019, vLex Justis was acquired by vLex, another legal technology university life and beyond. company, allowing us to expand our vast collection of content to additional jurisdictions. How to use this guide For over 30 years, vLex Justis products and services have been trusted by government organisations, leading international law firms, barristers’ chambers, academic institutions, While reading this guide it is recommended that you are signed in to JustisOne, or that public companies, top law schools and sole practitioners from over 40 countries. you have access to our accompanying user guide, available to download from the vLex Justis website.
To access JustisOne, visit www.justis.com and click Sign In at the top-right corner of the page. From here, click on the JustisOne sign in option on the left hand side. If your organisation has IP recognition enabled you will automatically be taken to the platform. Otherwise you will be asked to sign in with your username and password. 6 | Welcome vLex Justis | 7
How will this guide help me?
Learn practical research skills
This guide will help you to understand the practical side of legal research and provide you with a walk-through approach to answering legal research questions.
Prepare for practice
JustisOne is used by government organisations, leading international law firms, barristers and public companies in over 40 countries. Understanding how to use JustisOne will help you to adapt to your new working environment when you leave university or college.
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JustisOne acts as a single point of entry for your research. Rather than spending time searching multiple databases, you can locate content on other sources, including Westlaw, LexisNexis and BAILII, in one place on JustisOne. This will enable you to be more efficient and spend less time searching. Stay up-to-date
JustisOne is updated with new cases every day, so your students always have access to the latest cases. 8 | JustisOne vLex Justis | 9
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JustisOne gives you access to the most comprehensive collection of common law cases “Researching foreign law in a bunch of common law jurisdictions just got and uses intelligent technology to help you find and analyse content in ways not seen WAY easier! JustisOne is an expertly designed, easy to use database with before on other platforms. never-before-seen navigation tools that make researching foreign law fun.”
JustisOne’s features allow you to visualise the treatment of a case, identify the most Associate Professor of Law and Legal Research, Boston University School of Law quoted passages of a judgment, connect cases across multiple jurisdictions and much more.
JustisOne’s Browse feature
9 10 | Core knowledge vLex Justis | 11
Core knowledge Ireland • The Irish Court system follows a hierarchy ranging from the District Courts at the Let’s start with useful information and FAQs to help you learn about the law, precedent, bottom to the Supreme Court at the top. courts and more. • Both civil and criminal cases follow the same order, with the exception of the Special Criminal Court (SCC or Cuirt Choiriuil Speisiatta). • The SCC is a juryless criminal court which tries terrorism and serious organised What is precedent? crime. Decisions from the SCC can be appealed to the Court of Appeal. • The Irish Constitution states that the court system will include a Court of Final Precedent in the judicial system means that a court is bound by the previous decisions Appeal. This is the Supreme Court. of a court of higher standing or a court of equivalent standing. Superior courts are able to overrule decisions of lower courts, and sometimes even their own decisions. Northern Ireland
What are primary and secondary sources? • The Lord Chancellor is the highest officer in the judicial system. • The Secretary of State responsible for criminal law and policing. Primary sources are direct sources of law, e.g. legislation, treaties, judgments from the • The system is broadly the same as that of England and Wales. courts, law reports (case law), parliamentary papers, etc. Secondary sources include opinions, commentaries, articles and discussions. England, Wales & Scotland
• Criminal and civil cases are decided on an adversarial, not inquisitorial, basis. This is in contrast to the civil law systems used in other European countries. • The ultimate source of law is the legislation or statutes passed by Parliament in Westminster, the Scottish Parliament or the Welsh Assembly. “JustisOne is a great place to start your legal research as it will allow you to • You can learn more in the England & Wales edition of our Legal Research Handbook. search across multiple resources at once thanks to the legal indexing tool.” LLB graduate, University of Aberdeen Core knowledge vLex Justis | 13
The Supreme Court
The final court of appeal in civil and criminal matters. Appeals may be made only where the Court grants permission as set out in the Constitution of Ireland. Can decide on the constitutionality of a bill if referred to it by the The role of the Supreme Court President. The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal for all Irish civil cases and criminal cases, as established by the Constitution of Ireland. As well as this, Article 12.3.1 provides that Court of Appeal only the Supreme Court, consisting of not less than five judges, can establish whether
Deals with appeals from the High Court in civil cases and appeals from the the President of Ireland has become permanently incapacitated. The Supreme Court is Central Criminal Court, Special Criminal Court and Circuit Court in criminal cases. a collegiate court and the decision will always be that of the majority.
The Supreme Court is composed of the Chief Justice of Ireland and nine ordinary High Court Central Criminal Court judges. The president of the Court of Appeal and the President of the High Court are also members of the Supreme Court. Court of first instance for Criminal division of the civil claims over €75,000. High Court. The Supreme Court will hear appeals from the Court of Appeal, or from the High Court Power of judicial review Hears cases relating to directly in exceptional circumstances if the Supreme Court is satisfied that: over acts of government. serious criminal offences.
Hears appeals from the • The decision involves a matter of general public importance. Circuit Court. • In the interests of justice it is necessary that there be an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Circuit Court The Chief Justice of Ireland is also known as the President of the Supreme Court. Special Criminal Court Deals with civil claims up to Under the judicial side of this role, the Chief Justice is responsible for all aspects of the €75,000, criminal offences, and Hears cases relating to Supreme Court’s work. The Chief Justice is ex officio a member of both the High Court family law matters. terrorism and serious and the Court of Appeal. organised crime.
District Court
Deals with civil claims up to €15,000, minor criminal offences and certain family law matters.
Civil case Criminal case
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What is a law report? To be reported, a case will usually…
A law report is a publication of the judgment of a case, containing the decision and the • Raise a point of legal significance. judge’s reason for making it. Only a proportion of cases decided by courts are selected • Materially modify an existing principle of law or settle a doubtful question of law. to be reported. In most reported series, the cases are selected for publication by law • Answer any questions of interpretation of statutes or important cases which report editors – not the courts. The layout of a report has consistent elements, such as illustrate new applications of accepted principles. the names of the parties, the dates of the judgment and the judge’s name.
Which reports should be used? Reported vs unreported If there are several versions of a case it is recommended that you use the most authoritative While law reports are important, they only cover around 20% of higher court cases, and version, such as The Irish Reports. Authorised versions are written by barristers, read many precedents go unreported due to financial and resource constraints.Additionally, and signed off by a judge(s). Cases reported multiple times will have parallel citations, some online case law providers restrict your searches to their content which can result which refer to different report series. Once you have made a search on JustisOne, each in missing important persuasive and binding cases. result will contain a line of parallel citations. They are ordered by authority, starting with the most authoritative at the left to the least at the right, so that you can be sure that you are referring to the most authoritative version every time. Alternatively, click on the name of the court a case has been heard in on your results page to see a list of citations from most to least authoritative.
Use tabs to change the between unreported and reported versions of a case
Good to know
JustisOne contains both reported and unreported judgments so that you can conduct comprehensive and thorough research. If we have a reported version of a case, this will appear as a separate tab. 16 | Getting started with research vLex Justis | 17
Getting started with research
What to think about when approaching a legal research question?
Think about what you are being asked
• Make sure you understand the question being asked and clarify uncertainties. • List keywords and key concepts. • Think about what sources should be used.
Choosing resources
• Which databases are available? • What content is available on each database? • How can you use each database to your advantage? Use reputable sources. • “The Precedent Map allows a student to visualize the citing cases and the cases mentioned in the case at hand. Seeing a case in this way leads to Record your research a deeper understanding of its connections to other cases and how those cases might affect its continuing validity. Being able to switch from a list • Avoid duplicated effort and always keep an eye on time spent researching. view to a graphical view serves different types of learners. It also allows a researcher to switch from a global to a granular view to see the problem Top tip from a different perspective.”
Try to summarise any relevant cases that you read in your notes while conducting Legal Information Librarian your research. This will save you time when constructing your argument as you will Boston University School of Law, Massachusetts be able to quickly locate the title of the case that you need. 18 | Getting started with research vLex Justis | 19
Research steps
A) Identify and analyse C) Evaluate information
• Define the objective of your research. Identify the source: Who is providing the information? Are you getting information from • List the facts and issues of the case. credible sources? Ensure you are using authoritative, credible and reliable sources of • Classify the subject in legal terms. information. • Understand the keywords and practice areas. Source’s expertise: Is the source an expert or an authority? Examine spelling; try to verify credentials independently; has the person published in legal reviews etc?
B) Research Determine level of objectivity: Does the source provide a balanced viewpoint? Is the writing style trying to be persuasive or objective? Does advertising influence the content? • Look for relevant sources of information. • Speak to the law library staff and search using online services. Establish date of publication: Was the information current at the time of publication? • Remember to use citations, abbreviations and style guides as instructed by your Examine creation and revision dates – don’t rely on search engine dates! Review facts law school. and analysis in historical context. Undated information should be avoided. • Research the relevant area of law. • Read journal articles as well as relevant cases, statutes and textbooks to really Verify what is claimed in the information: Try to find two or more reliable sources understand the area of law that you are researching. providing the information. Use primary sources for facts. Secondary sources should • Construct a list of sources consulted. provide cited references. Reliable sources will meet this quality criteria.
Sometimes there is no answer to your legal research question. In some scenarios there will be no relevant case law, acts and no useful precedent (for example queries to do with new technology). However, you will only know that having gone through these basic steps. If you have found relevant information, it is then important to evaluate this. 20 | Getting started with research vLex Justis | 21
D) Present results Keeping up to date with the law
• Organise your results logically, and use good layout structure. Use correct spelling, Nicola Stephenson, LLB graduate, discusses how to use the unique search and grammar and syntax. Summarise, paraphrase and attribute correctly. analysis tools in JustisOne to stay up to date with case law. • Apply the law to the facts. • Provide clear advice or conclusions. • Acknowledge materials cited. • Construct a list of sources. Why is JustisOne important for law students?
“Many law students will already be aware of JustisOne, but for those of you who are not, it is an intelligent legal research platform that provides access to case law and legislation. It is a useful tool to stay up to date with case law and find out how cases relate to one another, without having to spend too much time sifting through irrelevant information to do so. It is especially useful during essay time!
Keeping up to date with new cases while you are a student is a great habit for going into practice after graduating. It will also be useful in the later years of your degree when you will be expected to conduct your own research and find authorities to back up your own arguments. JustisOne makes it easy to Good to know find case law on a specific topic so you can explore similar cases until you One of the main goals of JustisOne is to ensure users have access to an exhaustive find what you are looking for.” list of results regardless of their subscription. This is why you can use JustisOne to locate content across over 100 other online services. This allows you to use JustisOne as a single point of entry for your research. Rather than spending time searching on multiple databases, you can locate content from other sources, including Westlaw, LexisNexis and BAILII, all at once. Click on the Citations & Sources tab within the case to see where you can view the case, if it is not included in your subscription.
20 22 | Helpful notes vLex Justis | 23
What makes JustisOne different? Some reported series versions are also deemed to be more authoritative than others. You should always aim to cite the most authoritative version of a case. JustisOne displays the different parallel citations for any one case on the search JustisOne uses an algorithm to tag different practice areas which relate to any one results page, and in Citations & Sources. These are ordered from the most case. This means that it is easier to find important and related cases that might authoritative first, to the least authoritative last, so it is easy to see which citation generally come under different practice areas. For example, a student studying is best to use. corporate insolvency law may find it useful to look at cases from banking and finance or contract law to give them a wider understanding of the corporate legal world. Why is it important to consult online resources
JustisOne provides a list of cited and citing cases, including many from other as a student? jurisdictions, so it is easy to see how the area of law you are looking at has been applied in other legal systems. The platform also links out to several other Having the ability to conduct legal research online is becoming increasingly services, making it simple to find cases on other platforms outwith your JustisOne important. As the legal industry turns more and more to technology, new lawyers subscription. are expected to be able to conduct legal research both in law libraries and online. Getting familiar with online services such as JustisOne as a student will allow you to start your training contract or pupillage with knowledge of how to conduct your What if you want to find the leading cases for research quickly and efficiently. a particular area of law? JustisOne will also show you where cases have been cited by others, how cases have treated one another and warn you if a case has been heard in a higher court Once you have made a search on JustisOne, the most relevant results will appear – all things that are easy to miss or interpret wrongly without the platform’s prompts. at the top of your list. This is based on the level of court the case was heard in, how JustisOne offer a free online proficiency test which is certified and can be added many times it has been subsequently cited and if it is a leading authority in that area to your legal CV. The proficiency test is great for understanding the tools available of law. When it comes to deciding which cases to cite for yourself, I suggest using on the service and how to put them to practice before using them for real research. a similar strategy: look at the number of cases which have quoted or referred to the The certificate will prove to employers you are proficient in using JustisOne for main case (tip – try JustisOne’s key paragraph feature), check that you are reading legal research. the highest court’s hearing of the case (JustisOne will alert you to an appealed or overruled case at the top of the document) and choose cases which have been heard at higher courts over others. 24 | Practical legal research vLex Justis | 25
Practical legal research
Accessing JustisOne
Go to www.justis.com and click Sign In at the top-right corner of the page. From here, “You can search using the intelligent search bar with as broad or as niche select the option to sign in to JustisOne on the left hand side of the screen. If your a term as you would like, and it will bring up the relevant results. You can organisation has IP recognition enabled, you will be taken straight to the platform to start also search across multiple common law jurisdictions at once (even if your searching. For others, you will be asked to sign in with your username and password. university does not subscribe to them) to see if a case exists under your search and use the links provided to access it where it is available.
You may be able to access the service directly through your university library pages – speak to your law librarian or knowledge base team with any questions regarding Once you have found the case you need to explore, the case analysis tools access. make it simple to pinpoint the area of law that you are looking for within each case, saving you time on research tasks both in practice and as a student.”
Need help accessing JustisOne? Contact [email protected] or call us on LLB graduate. University of Aberdeen +44 (0)20 7284 8080
Searching made easy JustisOne’s Browse feature
A helpful place to start searching is the JustisOne Browse feature. This feature will allow you to search for content using a step-by-step process, as shown in the image to the right. You can also use the search bar to search for citations, categories, the title of a case, legislation, EU law, keywords and phrases. Boolean search operators can also be used. 26 | Practical legal research vLex Justis | 27
Cross jurisdictional searching
“Comparative law research in common law jurisdictions can be an extremely time If your goal is to work for a global law firm, or if you are studying International Law, you consuming and laborious process... can use JustisOne as a legal citator to find information about cases heard in different jurisdictions. Regardless of your university’s subscription, use the jurisdiction settings in That was the case until Justis. Now doing these types of comparative law research JustisOne to select those that you are interested in and search as normal. projects are a breeze due to the Justis platform, its taxonomy, and its many features that make navigation of the information easy and fun.” When looking at a case, it is easy to see how it has been influenced by cases from other jurisdictions, as well as how subsequent cases from elsewhere have relied on it. Take a Associate Professor of Law and Legal Research look at the cited and citing cases tabs to see a list of all cases involved. You can order Boston University School of Law cases by jurisdiction, so you can see how other common law systems have approached and used the same point of law.
View multiple cases from different jurisdictions side-by-side using the Multiple View feature. Click the button here to switch between different views.
JustisOne’s Multiple View showing two cases side-by-side 28 | Practical legal research vLex Justis | 29
Go beyond your reading list What does the Precedent Map show me?
It is often expected that you will look beyond the list of cases supplied by your lecturer Cases are in date order, so you can see at a glance if recent cases have reacted or faculty. Researching relevant cases, in addition to your reading list, allows for a more positively or negatively to the main case. in-depth analysis of an area of law. The larger the circle, the more cases in common this case will have with the main JustisOne has many unique features which can significantly reduce the amount of time case being researched. They are therefore much more likely to cover similar needed to find related cases and understand the relationships between those cases, questions of law. such as our Precedent Map. “The Justis Precedent Map is an excellent tool for seeing at a glance where an authority has been considered. Equivalent deliberate search would take Precedent Map up to a few minutes and is not really possible on some platforms.” QC and Barrister, Quadrant Chambers, London
As shown on the right, the Precedent Map is the perfect way to see at a glance how cases are related to one another. See the most binding and recent cases, and understand how JustisOne’s Precedent Map feature other cases have treated or been treated by the selected case.
Why is this important?
When you start a training contract, you’ll no longer have access to reading lists. When you start to search for a case in a specific area of law, the Precedent Map can help you to find other similar cases, which agree on a point of law.
If you are more of a visual learner, you can take a look at the Precedent Map to give yourself a break from lists! 30 | Practical legal research vLex Justis | 31
Building a strong argument CiteLine: If you click on the button within JustisOne labelled All Citing Cases, you will be shown the passages from subsequent cases where the current case has been mentioned. This allows you to swipe through each passage easily to see how it has been When constructing an essay or argument for a mooting competition, it is important to treated, as shown below. ensure that your supporting material has not been overruled and that the specific point you are using to support your argument remains good law. In JustisOne this is easy to Use our list of cited and citing cases, as this will show you where check. Citations in context: within a judgment another case has been mentioned, and if it was treated in a positive, negative or neutral way. The button next to each title, as shown below, will display the Note: We display a notification on cases if they have been heard in a higher court or number of mentions of that case within the judgment. To highlight exactly where they overruled. have been mentioned, simply click on the button. You can even clearly see if the case has been cited in other jurisdictions.
Citations in context button
JustisOne’s CiteLine feature
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A useful feature for essay writing
JustisOne’s Key Passages are a useful feature for revision and essay writing. The Key “Sometimes I want to use a case to support an argument, but can see that it Passages show you the most quoted sentences and phrases from a case. has been subsequently doubted or distinguished; in such circumstances I have to ensure that the treatment is for a different point of law or an unrelated issue Why is this useful? If you are looking at cases that have formed the basis of a legal test which does not impact the relevant point for me or the overall status of the case. for a point of law, the Key Passage will often be the legal test itself, since this is the part This task is easily possible because of the CiteLine feature, which provides the of the judgment that is most commonly cited. key parts of a case and how that part has been subsequently used in other cases as well.” In this way, the Key Passages feature is a great way to quickly identify legal tests and the most important part(s) of the case, so that you can decide if the case is relevant to your LLB student, The City Law School, City, University of London studies before reading the entire judgment.
JustisOne’s Key Passages feature 34 | Practical legal research vLex Justis | 35
GDL student... LLM student...
“The multiple view feature is one of the most useful tools available on “Writing essays during your LLM can be a daunting process. One of the main JustisOne. It allows the user to organise their thoughts while viewing cases/ challenges can be how do you convince your reader that your argument or legislation side by side. view has merit? In this regard, JustisOne’s Key Passage feature certainly gave me confidence. As a student, writing an essay or answering a problem question in preparation for a tutorial is always a constant battle between all the tabs I This feature provided me with specific text of what others cited the most, have open on my browser. No matter how organised I am, I still find myself in most cases, it was a crucial part of the judgment. I could also see where clicking on each of the tabs in turn to find the reference I am looking for. throughout the judgment other parts had been cited. I was able to see this The JustisOne multiple view tab takes this problem away, keeping all of my information instantly, without reading through the entire judgment. However, cases in one handy drop down within the one tab, and allowing me to view you need to remember that sometimes reading an entire judgment is two or three simultaneously or side-by-side with the legislation. advisable. The Key Passage features is a great guide to find what others find most useful within a judgment, but you will still need to understand the I think that the feature will also be particularly useful after my studies, as it context of the case! will allow me to conduct my research and build a case very easily. It is so simple to compare judgments on JustisOne and I never have to worry about I used this information to support my own argument by either 1) citing/ finding the correct tab to find a particular case.” quoting the paragraph directly or; 2) finding a case or judgment which cast doubt on that often cited part. While it is often quick in most online services GDL graduate, BPP University to see who and how a case has been cited, this feature provides context to what is actually being cited. It is a useful tool to help understand the strengths and weakness of an argument, but to also navigate to other cases that may be of value.”
LLM Student, The City Law School City, City, University of London 36 | Practical legal research vLex Justis | 37
Legislation (UK and Ireland) Good to know
• Use read mode to bring any case into the centre of the screen to allow you to Through JustisOne, you can access legislation from both Ireland and the UK. You can focus purely on the text. also see how this legislation has been used and interpreted by other common law • Your search terms will automatically be highlighted within the judgment so jurisdictions. For example, many judges from the Caribbean refer to UK statutes when that you can locate important sections quickly. Use the pen icon to turn this deciding the outcome of the case they are hearing. On JustisOne, you can view a list of off. the cases from any jurisdiction that have cited a particular piece of Irish or UK legislation.
You can also view the text of cases side-by-side with legislation so that you can work with them at the same time. The multiple view feature will allow you to keep all of the documents that you are working with together on one screen, saving you time from “We have often impressed our members by locating a judgment from having to switch between tabs on your browser and keeping all of your research neatly JustisOne that they thought would be really difficult to find!” Advocates together! Library, Parliament House, Edinburgh
JustisOne’s multiple view showing an Irish and a UK case side-by-side
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Test yourself
Let’s get practical Before you begin
Once you have been given a legal research question, you will likely review any lecture Before you begin searching, you should consider what information you already have. notes that you have on the area of law followed by some initial background research On JustisOne, you can conduct research across all of our jurisdictions regardless of using texts from law journals or textbooks. your subscription or access rights. If you find something that is not included in your institution’s subscription, we will provide you with links to over 100 other sources where Following this, you will want to look at the relevant legislation or precedents in the same you may be able to find the case. As we are focusing on Ireland in this guide, I have area or region. This is where JustisOne can help you. decided to refine my search to Irish content only. To do this, click on Settings in the left- hand menu, followed by Jurisdictions, and ensure that only Ireland is selected.
Example question If you have notes regarding relevant cases, legislation or quotes, you may wish to use our advanced search, which will allow you to enter the exact or partial information that Can a person who is seeking to enforce a judgment use confidential financial information you have, to find more information on the same source. To do this, select Advanced from in respect of the assets of a party - information that they became aware of as a result of the left-hand menu and fill out the information you have in the relevant box. Note that you being present in court during in camera family law proceedings to which they were not can restrict your search to cases or legislation by selecting the corresponding tab along actually a party? An example being that of a child present during in camera family law the top of the advanced search screen. proceedings in circumstances where her parents were seeking a judicial separation.
If you have no starting point and want to begin your research using JustisOne, then you can use the general search bar at the top to make a broader search. How to answer this question with JustisOne
Nicola Stephenson, Head of Training at vLex Justis, and LLB graduate, discusses approaching the problem question using JustisOne. 40 | Test yourself vLex Justis | 41
Using the JustisOne tools further detail. By selecting ‘documents’ on the left-hand menu, followed by the ‘all open documents’ list at the top-right of the screen, I am able to flick back to the case I had previously opened. Once in MP V AP (Practice: in camera) 1996, I select the In Camera Rule Precedent Map option from the top of the judgment (note: this can be used regardless of your access and subscription rights). From the precedent map, there are multiple cases From the question, I know that I need to understand the in camera rule. The most basic that have interacted with the judgment of the case. I notice that the majority are neutral, way to do this is to simply search for the words in camera in the general search bar. As but one decision is showing a green arrow, indicating a positive treatment. The same mentioned previously, I have set my jurisdictions to include only Ireland (I will still be able circle is larger than any other case displayed on the map and represents the to see cases from other jurisdictions that have been cited in my research). Select the RM V DM case. orange box containing a white magnifying glass or press enter to run the search. (Practice: in camera) 1996
The results are automatically ordered by relevance, so I can be sure that the first few results are going to be the most relevant to the search term that I entered. The first case on my list (at the time of writing) was MP V AP (Practice: in camera) 1996. I can see from the information available on the results screen that JustisOne only has reported versions of this case (not the official judgment), so I know I might not be able to view it Icons on JustisOne’s search results indicate full text and reported versions of a case depending on my institution’s subscription. When entering the case, I can see that I do have access to the Irish Reports version, I can also see from the citations & sources tab on the right-hand side that I can find this case on other platforms, and link to them directly from JustisOne.
When in the Irish Reports version of the case, the first paragraph talks aboutSection 34 of the Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform Act 1989. I can find this legislation by searching in the general search bar as before. From reading this, I get a better idea of the in camera rule and where it is grounded in legislation. I can also find other relevant material from the information available on the overview page, including an up-to-date list of citing cases.
Now that I have found the relevant information, I want to look into the case law in 42 | Test yourself vLex Justis | 43
By double-clicking on this, I can see there are a number of cases that have been Remembering the multiple treatments in the inside circle of the precedent map for treated both positively and negatively by RM v DM, so I decide to click the title of RM v DM, I select cited cases to see a list of all other cases mentioned alongside the case (at the top of the screen) to view RM v DM in more detail. People (DPP). I can see in this list that there are a number of other cases, and I can add those which are outside of my jurisdiction settings (using the link at the The key paragraphs highlighted in purple on the overview display show me the top) to get a wider understanding. Here, I can focus on the negatively cited cases most quoted parts of the case, which I can read quickly to get an understanding of such as Eastern Health Board v Fitness to Practice Committee to find out if my this case’s relevance. I can also see within one of the quotes that another case has argument is still persuasive and the most up-to-date interpretation of the law. been mentioned People (DPP) v WM and note that this may be worth reading too.
JustisOne’s Key Passages feature 44 | Test yourself vLex Justis | 45
Another way to search while researching for this When you first enter browse, you will be able to choose between different document types. By selecting cases, you will be prompted to choose a jurisdiction. From here, essay you can select Ireland or use the drop-down menu indicated by an arrow next to the word Jurisdiction (at the top of the list) to change your search criteria to category, year, The final way to search on JustisOne is to use our Browse feature. This is used to reported series or court. For our example, I would choose Ireland as the jurisdiction, then find leading cases on a particular area of law. For our example, we could select Cases use the category tab to select the areas of law suggested. > Ireland > Practice and Procedure > Hearing > Evidence (then add family law to the search filters on the results page), or Cases > Ireland > Family law > Divorce > Divorce Try to finish answering our problem question using the tips mentioned. You can find the action. finished answer as provided by the Honorable Society of King’s Inns on the next page.
JustisOne’s Browse feature 46 | Test yourself vLex Justis | 47
Example answer provided by the Honorable As Birmingham J noted in the more recent case of HSE v McAnaspie [2011] IEHC Society of King’s Inns 477, referring to the statutory regimes in place restricting cases from being heard in public, “The holding of proceedings in public is prohibited, however, there is no In camera rule precise stipulation as to what regime should apply”. [At para. 20]. Birmingham J considered case-law in both England and Ireland in relation to the operation and Section 34 of the Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform Act, 1989 contours of the in camera rule and had little difficulty in concluding that “a judge of provides that proceedings under the Act “shall be held otherwise than in public”. the District Court had, in certain circumstances at least, a discretion to lift or modify Similar provisions exist in other statutes dealing with family law. There was the rigours of the in camera rule”. The Judge also stated that “it may be said that conflicting case law as to the circumstances in which a record of proceedings the Irish cases are not all that easy to reconcile”. [At para. 24] However, he placed heard in camera could be adduced at a future tribunal. In People (DPP) v. WM considerable reliance on the case of Eastern Health Board v Fitness to Practise [1995] 1 IR 226, MP v. AP [1996] 1 IR 144 and RM v. DM [2000] 3 IR 373, the Committee of the Medical Council [1998] 3 IR 399. Birmingham J distilled the courts interpreted these in camera provisions as imposing an absolute prohibition principles from this decision thus, at para 30: on the future use of a record of the in camera proceedings. In Eastern Health Board v. Fitness to Practise Committee of the Medical Council [1998] 3 IR “Barr J. refused the applicant the relief it sought and directed it to make discovery of 399, Tesco (Ireland) Ltd v. McGrath Unreported, High Court, Morris P., 14 June the documents. He held that a statutory imperative that proceedings of a particular 1999 and Eastern Health Board (No.2) v. E (an infant) [2000] 1 IR 451, however, nature be held in private did not imply that there was an absolute embargo on the the courts interpreted similarly worded in camera provisions as not imposing an disclosure of evidence in all circumstances... absolute embargo. Barr J. then went on to set out ten principles of general application which he The in camera rule was the subject of legislative intervention. Section 40(8) of the believed to represent the law in Ireland having regard to Irish and U.K. case-law Civil Liability and Courts Act, 2004 effectively provides that section 34 of the including in particular the seminal decision of the Supreme Court in re R. Limited 1989 Act shall not prevent a court hearing proceedings under that Act from having [1989] I.R. 126” [Emphasis Added]. the discretion to order disclosure of information connected with the proceedings, if such disclosure is required to protect the legitimate interests of any party or (6) In considering a conflict between the public interest or the interest of a person other person affected by the proceedings. This effectively amends the law so seeking disclosure on the one hand, and the interest of an individual in retaining that it conforms to the decision of Barr J. in Eastern Health Board v. Fitness to the full benefit of the in camera rule on the other hand, the court is bound by the Practise Committee where Barr J (at page 428) stated “it is a contempt of court concept that the paramount consideration is to do justice-see In re R. Ltd. [1989] for any person to disseminate information derived from proceedings held in camera I.R. 126.” without prior judicial authority”. 48 | Test yourself
Birmingham J., also noted that McGuinness J., in the context of her judgment in Eastern Health Board v E (No. 2) [2000] 1 IR 451 was impressed and convinced by Barr J’s analysis and statement of the relevant principles. The Judge also noted that Hanna J had also adopted the rationale of Barr J in Miggin (A Minor) v Health Service Executive (HSE) & Gannon [2010] IEHC 169. Ultimately, in respect of the application by the McAnaspie family to access the reports of the Guardian ad Litem, Birmingham J., concluded that the District Court did have discretion to release the information to the next of kin in these circumstances. Birmingham J., also strongly endorsed the power of the District Court to impose conditions on the release of such information as it saw fit in order to protect those the rule is aimed at shielding from harm. The Judge also noted the European Court of Human Rights Judgments supporting the view that the Court has such a power, in particular, B. and P. v United Kingdom (Application Nos. 3633/97 and 35974/97) Judgment of 24th April, 2001 in which the Court reiterated the view that there must be some element of court control in relation to the operation of the in camera rule.
In the more recent case of DO’R v BO’R [2017] IEHC 429 concerning a confidentiality clause in respect of settlement in divorce proceedings, relief was refused. [There are a number of other cases which consider the Eastern Health Board case – you may choose to cite some of them].
Thus, the in camera rule operates (subject to statutory exceptions) to prevent any publication without leave of the court, while the court has a discretion to lift the rule in appropriate cases. While there is no guarantee of success, the person would have to make an application to the court that dealt with the family law proceedings in question, seeking the leave of the court to enable them to utilise the knowledge they party obtained as a result of attending the original court case. That court Are you looking for civil law content? would then have to weigh up the interest of the party in seeking disclosure on the one hand, and the interest of the parties to the original family law proceedings in Access content from over 100 jurisdictions including Europe, Central and retaining the full benefit of the in camera rule on the other hand. South America, Asia, North America and more with vLex.
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